I am swamped with work at the moment and stress-eating like mad, so when I was craving something spicy today I threw together one of my favorite recipes: spicy guilt-free popcorn. I air-popped the kernels in the microwave, threw some spicy goodness on top and indulged without feeling a single trace of remorse because these babies are packed with flavor and not with calories! I highly encourage messing around with the spices; this is just one that I happened to throw together today. I really like to use India Tree’s Paloma de Colores kernels because they’re tastier and less kernel-y (and actually barely need any seasoning), but regular store-brand kernels work fine, too. I fully intend on making this again tonight for a guilty-pleasure Twilight viewing with my friends!

So sue me, I love ketchup. When someone asks “do you want fries with that?”, they’re not really referring to a burger or a hot dog, they’re referring to the massive amounts of ketchup I dip the potato-y wonders in. Not to say that there’s much of anything in ketchup, but when I saw Heinz One Carb Reduced Sugar Ketchup, I thought I’d give it a try. Nutritionally, the only difference between this ketchup and Heinz’s regular ketchup is that this is 5 calories per tablespoon and 1g carbs, and regular is 15 calories and 4g carbs. It also contains sucralose instead of high fructose corn syrup. If you’re only eating a tablespoon or so, there’s really no difference. If you’re like me and eat your meal with your ketchup, this is a potential carb and calorie saver.

So in true oxymoronic fashion, I brought a bottle to McDick’s with me, ordered some fries and sat down to do a taste test between the original Heinz and the One Carb Heinz. Let me tell you, there’s nothing like sitting down to eat McDonald’s fries with a bottle of reduced-carb ketchup. The verdict? Not much of a difference! One Carb Heinz is still nice and thick, and despite being slightly less sweet and a little more salty it essentially tastes just like the original stuff. If you want to add the sweetness back in it’s an easy fix: just add a packet of Splenda or something similar and you’re set (which I tried. It worked pretty well!).

The next test: I sat down with a massive plate of Hungry Girl’s Butternut Squash Fries and dug in. In one sentence: Best Gastronomized Swap Ever. Completely guilt-free in every aspect and I felt like I was eating fries with real ketchup!